Raising dogs with a purpose

Family members and friends of Brenda and Peter Rothermel know that their house in Murrieta just isn’t a home without a dog.

That certainly was the case about a dozen years ago when they shared their place with a golden retriever named Treva, who was an important member of the family for about 10 years. But like all old friends, Treva didn’t last forever.

“We went on a camping trip and she got sick,” Brenda said. “That’s when we discovered she had inoperable cancer.”

The loss was hard, but it led the Rothermels to a new direction when it comes to loving their four-legged friends. Instead of developing a long-term attachment to just one dog, they’ve opened their hearts to eight dogs in the last 10 years. And in return, they’ve made less-fortunate people with special needs very happy.

The Rothermels are retired and have been married 58 years. Their children and grandchildren do not live nearby. And as their lives wind down, they’ve discovered that training soon-to-be service dogs through a program called Canine Companions for Independence is a way to nurture their love for animals and a wonderful way to make valuable contributions to others.

For instance, one puppy they helped train went to a family in Rancho Margarita who have a wheelchair-bound daughter with cerebral palsy and an autistic son. Both children have responded positively to the dog, according to correspondence from the children’s father. He even sent a photo album, showing his daughter beaming at the sight of her dog.

The dogs, a cross-breed of Labrador and retriever, are about 2 months old when they come to the Rothermels. The couple works with the animal for a little more than a year before it moves on to advanced training at the regional center in Oceanside. The dogs can learn a variety of tasks ---- things such as flipping light switches, pulling items from a refrigerator, and picking up things such as a set of keys.

“I teach them about 30 commands and they learn about 25 more when they go to advanced training,” Peter said. “While they’re with us they learn how to react in places like bowling alleys, restaurants and supermarkets.”

In the final two weeks of training in Oceanside, the dogs are introduced to their final companions ---- perhaps a kid in a wheelchair, someone who is hard of hearing, or even a disabled soldier.

“Dogs have been known to be a calming influence to veterans with (post-traumatic stress disorder),” Brenda Peterson said. “They also have been used in schools for children who are just learning to read. When a child is alone reading to a dog, the dog is less judgmental than what other students might be.”

The program does have a downside. After a year of living and working with a future service dog, attachments are made, and then broken. On the day a canine is turned over to the new provider, there are plenty of mixed emotions and tears to go around.